A new project uses virtual reality to help communicate what climate models are predicting: Greenhouse gas emissions are increasing Earth鈥檚 temperature, melting glaciers that could create many feet of global sea level rise by the end of this century.
The project, available to community groups through The Seattle Public Library, uses Oculus Quest 2 goggles to help viewers imagine rising seas from a vantage point along the South Seattle waterway.
鈥淐reative, interactive communication tools like virtual reality experiences offer a powerful way to spark conversations and action around climate change by helping show how a global-scale issue shows up in a very real way in our own communities,鈥� said project leader , who began the effort at the 91探花Climate Impacts Group and is now at the University of Minnesota.
The headsets and accompanying are available as of this spring for checkout by community groups, such as Boys and Girls Clubs, youth groups or 4-H Clubs, which agree to take responsibility for the equipment. The Seattle Public Library is looking at more ways to make the experiences available to the public.
The VR experience builds on a Seattle Public Library project that used historical photos, maps and artifacts to show the history of the Duwamish River 鈥� from times when the Duwamish Tribe used the waterway for transportation, through the industrial pollution of the 1900s, to today鈥檚 ongoing . It extends the timeline to a future in which the riverfront is clean but rising sea levels lead to more flooding of coastal and lowland areas.
Through the headset, the user sees the shores of the Duwamish River, first with large conifers and then with small buildings in the foreground and today鈥檚 South Park Bridge in the distance. A voiceover explains how emissions cause sea-level rise, and an aerial view shows how that might look on city streets. Users can pick blueberries, clean up garbage along the shoreline, and finally set sea-level rise along the shoreline from 1 to 5 feet.
鈥淲e developed this experience so that Seattle communities could virtually walk through a future Seattle and see how climate change is shaping our landscape, including drastically rising sea levels,鈥� said , the digital media and learning program manager at SPL. 鈥淲e hope that creating an immersive experience will make the concept more tangible and inspire communities to think about how to adapt and build resilience to climate change.鈥�
The VR experience ends with recommendations for reducing fossil fuel emissions, such as choosing to ride a bike instead of driving a car that burns fossil fuels and engaging in local climate action efforts, with contacts listed in the booklet.
鈥淎lthough I had experience with video game development, I had never made anything for VR. I associated VR mostly with entertainment uses before working on this project,鈥� said lead developer , a 91探花undergraduate in computer science. 鈥淚 hope the experience makes people more aware of the history of the environments they exist in, and more mindful of their influence into the future.鈥�
In addition to the VR experience, the team worked with Tableau to create an , available on the Climate Impacts Group website, that displays the projections for sea level rise depending on the location along the Washington coast, the climate scenario and the amount of geological rebound after the last ice age. Both products are based on sea-level rise projections published in 2018 for Washington state.
鈥淭hese sea level rise projections and visualizations are hyperlocal 鈥� they are specific to the Washington coast, Elliott Bay and the Duwamish River valley,鈥� said , the climate adaptation policy lead at Seattle Public Utilities.
鈥淭he VR experience provides an on-the-ground experience for sea level rise in South Park,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more than gradations on a map, it鈥檚 about really getting a sense for what 5 feet of sea level rise would feel like.鈥�
The VR experience was support by an from 91探花EarthLab, Seattle Public Utilities, the National Science Foundation, the University of Minnesota and the Academy of Interactive Entertainment in Seattle. Additional programming was by Seattle developer , with support from artists and . The experience is narrated by KEXP sound engineer .
For more information, contact Roop at hroop@umn.edu, Strong at stront2@cs.washington.edu and Grodnik-Nagle at Ann.Grodnik-Nagle@seattle.gov. At SPL, contact communications manager Elisa Murray at elisa.murray@spl.org. Community groups can request a kit .